PART II: Owl Saves Forest
The raccoon clan of the Forest of Caelestis lived in the bushes that grew upon Northern Shores of the River Alba, and usually spent the last dregs of the day fishing on the banks. This was a tawdry task, and it was best left to the young and elderly (for the dominant males venture out and hunt among the forest undergrowth), as it was considered a rather boring and slow past time.
Though, of course, this was greatly improved when a new arrival descended upon the clan. An animal that could fly, to be exact.
Yes, Leo.
The little owlet should think himself to be lucky that, on the fateful evening in which he was kidnapped across the forest, a tight skirmish had developed among the violent raccoon clan (a curious notion of whether there was a world outside the forest or not), causing his captor to drop his prey and join his fellow friends in the argument.
The little owl had then been forced into the paws of a much friendlier raccoon. Her name was Rosa, and she had glossy, trimmed fur; unlike his previous captor, who had nothing but matted and dirt-streaked hair. This raccoon had taken little Leo in and nursed him to become a strong little owlet, and, though she herself could not, taught Leo to capture the air underneath his wings and soar.
And so, this particular afternoon, as the sun began to settle itself below the horizon, and as frequent snores from the raccoon clan were subsiding, Leo, once again had flopped himself towards the shores of the lake and had taken on his never-ending task of diving for the shimmering bellies of the white fish that swam just below the strong current of the Alba River. He gathered his wings and readied himself for flight, angling his wings just so.
The river of wind scooped him into the sky. Ah, bliss. Leo swooped and dived, thoroughly enjoying himself in the air before focusing on the task at hand. Then, without warning, he aimed himself at the shining strip of river below and plunged, rocketing towards the water…
He broke the surface of the crisp, cool wetness, a white-bellied fish flopping around hopelessly in his beak.
"Bravo!" Someone cried, a female voice, no doubt, from above. It was Bells; a raccoon Leo thought was quite beautiful. And as the sleek, furry face of Bells looked down at his damp, feathery head; Leo's heart thumped a lively jig.
"Why, hello there," he sputtered, before realizing that he was biting into the flesh of the fish. He spat the fish out with a slight grimace.
She laughed, a melodious growl escaping her furry face.
He churred nervously, and hopped out onto the beach, drying himself off efficiently by ruffling his feathers. Splatters of water droplets invaded Bells' fur.
Both friends laughed at each other's wet faces.
"Go on, then," Bells giggled softly, "I wouldn't want Abbot mewling at me again." And Leo, accompanied by Bells, resumed the tedious job of fishing.
Abbot was a handsome, fierce, and arrogant raccoon. He was the model male. Leo hated him. Everyone (including Abbot himself) claimed that he would one day take Bells, the resident raccoon beauty, as a mate. It was lucky that Bells despised Abbot too.
And while Leo was shooting repeatedly out of the water, fish after fish glinting in the rapidly setting sun, he didn't notice, like the times before, that he was being watched.
For, perched on a distant trembling aspen, a young female whiskered screech was watching him through narrowed eyes.
A lot had occurred in the past year for Ella. She had grown from a fledgling to a tall, looming, beautiful owl; and had rapidly risen through the owl military ranks to become a general official to the Owl Clan Leader (a barn owl by the name of Brune) herself. She had taken to studying the ancient arts of owl battle, and had quickly begun adept at fast-paced stick fighting.
At the moment, her sharp, thick talons were clenched tightly around the branch of an aspen as she watched her brother churr and jest with a sworn owl enemy. This was too much. Not only was her brother jeopardizing her occupation, he was also putting his life on the line too. After Ella had become General, she had started a laborious search of the Forest for her brother. After many months of watching and spying, one of her emissaries had finally informed Ella of the rumor of an owl among the raccoons. She had rushed forward to chance a glance at Leo, and here he was, becoming friends with the enemy!
It's funny how these things occur, Ella mused, before she alerted her troops.
Torrents of owls streamed forward, out onto the northern banks of the River Alba. They were all sporting thick, sharpened, oak sticks. Unsurprisingly, the honed points were pointed directly at Bells.
Of course, Bells was trained in this kind of attack, having grown up in an animal society where such invasions were more probable than likely. She immediately stood up from the ankle-deep, blue water surrounding her paws and splashed towards the bank, where Leo was currently emptying his beak of scales. She grabbed him from the ground at lightning speed and inserted his neck into her jaws. Despite his protests, she sped off towards the shelter of the dense, clustered trees before the beaches.
"Explain," Raco, Clan Leader of the raccoons and father of Bells, boomed in a sullen voice. He glanced towards Abbot, who was curled up around the opening of the Council Den. Abbot growled in a pompous fashion that made Leo shiver.
"Honored Father," Bells began, "Leo and I," – She gestured towards Leo – "were finishing our assigned task of fishing for the clan when an unexpected invasion startled us. The owls looked as if they were ready to kill…"
At this, Raco had jumped to his paws and silenced her with a wave of his paw.
"Judging from your point, dear Bells, I sense that we need to reinforce our defenses," he growled in a stiff manner.
"Chief," Abbot spoke from in front the patch of violet sky, "I have the sudden impression that Leo has something to do with this. In fact," he licked his paws and glanced flirtatiously at Bells, "I believe that he had sent those owls to attack us."
And with that, Leo was seized gruffly around his neck feathers and hurtled towards the execution stone at breakneck speed.
"Abbot had warned me of this," Raco thundered, the ragged fringes of his hairy chin clearly visible before Leo's eyes as his head was pressed roughly against the surface of the stone, "And I know I appeared too sentimental for my own good."
Bells was having an argument with herself, and then seemed to stiffen in decision.
"STOP!" She cried, and pushed her father off of Leo. She laid her head on top of his heaving backside, and glared at the clan leader.
Ah. The forest's first cross-species relationship.
And, of course, there were more to come.
And such was how the war of the Forest of Caelestis had ended. Peacefulness between the owl and raccoon clan leaders.
I know. It's such a HORRIBLE story. I'm probably gonna get an F on it or something. Ah well. The epilogue is coming soon, for those who care. Oh yeah and do review.